The Aftermath
by Hazel R. Wood
Summary: After a rather difficult break in his engagement status to Yuuri, Wolfram seeks out his homeland of Bielefeld. However, when his land is attacked unexpectedly all fingers point at the newly appointed aristocrat of Bielefeld himself as the cause. R&R!


Summary: After a rather difficult break in his engagement status to Yuuri, Wolfram seeks out his homeland of Bielefeld. However, when his land is attacked unexpectedly all fingers point at the newly appointed aristocrat of Bielefeld himself as the cause.

Warnings: Shounen-ai implications for obvious reasons and cursing. YuuriXOC

The Fool On the Hill.

The sky never was so clear as it was tonight. Not a speck of cloud in sight. It was oddly unsettling, the stars glaring down so vividly, almost like they wanted to blind whoever the unfortunate fool was who looked at them. And tonight that honor fell on Wolfram like a hundred ton weight.

His eyes narrowed as they searched the twinkling skies. It was much too bright for his mood in any case. He wanted overcast weather; something darker. He needed to see a reflection of his temper in the perfect sky. Rain, hail, lightening… anything but these annoying sparkles. But nothing seemed to be going his way for the past eighty-five years, why would it start now?

He sat up from an uncomfortable spot in the dewy grass. A few long hours ago he left Blood Pledge Castle before it _all_ went up in flames. There wasn't much he could do about the state of the courtyard and Yuuri's bedroom now, and found solace in this huge hill just outside the walls of the city the structures encircled. It was quiet and distant and that was what he needed right now.

Wolfram von Bielefeld was always proud, selfish and arrogant, or so he let people believe. He was never a one for admitting weakness and he strove to be the best he could. And after years of that, who wouldn't think all those things were what he had truly become? He could confess to a certain level of them but that wasn't all he was made of. He was honest with his emotions more than anything else. He wore every one of them on his sleeve and he knew that better than anybody else. He had always had a level of understanding what other people saw when they looked at him. It reflected clearly in their body language when they knew to steer clear of him. That's why the guards let him storm off so easily. They figured the consequences were much more dire with him than with Yuuri.

Yuuri. He scoffed and folded his arms against his chest. Anger pulsed through his veins thicker than blood at the moment. He couldn't stand being around the boy-ruler after tonight. It was humiliating to sit there as the king nervously told him that they were no longer engaged. It was more humiliating than when that stupid wimp proposed to him in the first place. But with the degradation came the crunch of pain that collapsed on his chest once he heard the words come out of his now ex-fiancé's mouth.

_"Wolf… don't take this the wrong way but… I found someone I really, really like."_

That wasn't what got him though. It was Yuuri, he always found someone he really, really liked. It was a typical response; in fact it would have been the opposite reply that would have grabbed Wolfram's attention. He hadn't seen a day that went by that Yuuri found someone he really, really didn't like. So he wasn't much paying attention when the double black had been speaking. He had just nodded along and found more interest in his fingernails than anything else.

_ "In fact Wolfram… I'm… in love her so I'm breaking off our engagement as of tomorr-"_

After that, the blonde barely remembered much. He knew there was screaming, mostly on his side, and whining, all on Yuuri's. But he hadn't expected such a harsh slap of reality to reel its ugly head. It was sudden, it was quick and it was painful. After three years of constant bickering, indecent actions to get Yuuri's attention, and Wolfram's steady and undying loyalty to the double black, it all seemed to be pushed back into his face.

He bit his lip as his emerald eyes were still cast on the skies above them. He leaned back on his cindered hands and winced. The adrenaline that was pumping through him was long worn off and pain began to course through his arms. He hissed and sat up fully so he could look at his hands. He had gotten careless with his temper. It was just another thing to add on to his list of annoyances tonight.

His blonde head found his knees as he leaned over to take a deep breath of the crisp night air. He debated on staying here for the rest of the night but knew that would just make Yuuri worry more about him. Although he liked that idea right now, he still didn't want extravagant measures taken over this pathetic display of hiding. The wimp would probably send all of the soldiers he could wrangle up at three in the morning to find him. There were already quite a few around them when they were arguing, probably because Yuuri knew he would react the way that he had. He was far too predictable for his own liking.

With one more look at the skies, he stood up and carefully dusted the bits of grass and water off of him with the unscathed back of his hands. He overacted to the situation in its entirety. After all Yuuri never showed any interest in him that way, but there was always a hope for future between the two. They had several moments where Wolfram could have sworn that the double black felt the same way about him but was to nervous to speak it. Or again that could have been wishful thinking.

A bitter sigh escaped Wolfram's lips as he mounted the horse he had taken. He wondered vaguely if they put out the fire in Yuuri's bedroom. Probably, it wasn't very big; he had just set his nightgown on fire anyways. But the courtyard was a different story. When Yuuri tried to apologize and just set him off more. He was so sick of hearing 'the engagement was a mistake'… well it was a mistake that Wolfram personally enjoyed. Being fiancé to Yuuri gave him so much, not just in the way he loved the boy, but also in the way of protection. Everyone did something blatantly obvious for the boy king. Conrart was his godfather and his mentor in the ways of swordplay. Anytime Yuuri had a problem he'd go to Conrart for advice and reassurance. With Gunter it was more or less the same, he taught him language, laws, culture and history. He was the ultimate source of information, even if his knowledge fell on disinterested ears. Gwendal had taken over as second in command with all the work he did behind that desk. Even the Sage was Yuuri's best friend. So Wolfram was left with just… extra protection. With the status of fiancé, he made sure he went everywhere with Yuuri as a backup. He kept Yuuri in line; anytime he was distracted (which was often) Wolfram never hesitated to push him back on subject.

Now he was just a normal soldier, someone to call in times of emergency. And that was it. It would take time to get used to it but he'd manage. He always did.

As his horse trotted closer and closer to the castle he always called home, he felt a wave of humiliation wash over him again. He had caused a huge scene and ran off. He didn't want to look at anyone, knowing full well rumors were already spreading and his reputation went even further down with every word spoken. Damn personal politics.

Just as he decided he would go to the barracks with his men, which was just outside the castle, the guards were yelling to let him in. To late for the barracks now, he was already there albeit absentmindedly the way he came. He grumbled a few curses at the men on patrol. Now everyone knew he was back. The last thing he needed was Yuuri yapping behind him as he made his way for his original bedroom.

Oh Shinou really must hate him.

"Wolfram…"

How sad it was, that even though all this pain kept stabbing at his chest, he was happy to see the double black. He was sitting on the stairs, shivering and staring at the fire demon. A goofy smile on his lips that made Wolfram's heart fluttering achingly. But he gave that smile to everyone and his bitter mood settled back in after the moment of euphoric disproportion. He got down from his horse and made his way to the stables, ignoring Yuuri for the time being. He was in no mood or position to speak to the king right now.

He scowled mentally as the yapping began.

"Wolfram, I'm sorry you're so upset about this but-" Wolfram began to unsaddle his horse, and successfully tuning his ex-fiancé out. It was nothing but apologies anyway. After the horse was secure in the pent he pushed past Yuuri and made his way to the entrance of Blood Pledge Castle.

"Stop ignoring me!" He heard Yuuri demand loudly as they entered the hall. The tremble in the other man's voice made him pause on his venture back to his drafty room that hadn't been slept in since the engagement happened.

"Your Majesty, if you'll excuse me I'm tired and need to go to bed. If all you're going to do is repeat what you said earlier tonight, I've heard it, I've accepted it and I'm done talking about it." _Wimp_ he mentally added.

"That's not what I'm going to say at all Wolfram!" The look in Yuuri's eyes was desperation. But the blonde was having none of it.

"Then we'll talk about it later. I don't want to hear it right-"

"I said I don't want you to leave Wolfram and I meant it."

That took him for a loop. What in the world was this boy blathering about? The stumped look on his face must have come off as a look of anger because Yuuri's hands found Wolfram's shoulders in a comforting fashion. Almost like he was trying to soothe him.

"I'm not telling you that you can't leave. I-I understand if you do but I just wanted you to know that I appreciate you being around, you… know?" A sad smile graced the double black's face. It was a smile Wolfram never wanted to see. He slowly digested this information Yuuri was presenting to him and frowned.

"You think I would leave this place because of _you_?" His emerald orbs narrowed. His charred hands found Yuuri's and they pushed them off his shoulders. "You're really that arrogant to think that I would leave my home just because you aren't my fiancé anymore?" His anger began to flash back to him, along with a mountain of incidences that made his blood boil. He was a natural pressure cooker of internalized feelings and they were beginning to escape him in the form of smoke.

The double black wisely took a step back from his ex-fiancé and for a moment looked perplexed. "No, that's not what I'm saying Wolfr-"

"That is _exactly_ what you're saying." The fire demon hissed through clenched teeth. "I've lived in this damned castle for the better part of a _century_! And all the sudden this surprisingly dim-witted king comes along and thinks his presence would uproot me from the place I was born in? Just because he is so poisoned against the thought of two men loving each other?" His eyes began to flare as a timid fire began to burst from his blackened fingertips.

"Wolfram that's not it! I was worried that you would leave because you felt uncomfortable-"

"Bullshit!" That was went he felt a large calloused hand on his shoulder and he jumped. His flames extinguished at once and the tunnel vision that had impaired him from before was wearing off quickly. His adrenaline had kept him so focused on Yuuri that he hadn't noticed there were a crowd of people around him.

"Okay that's enough you two." Wolfram knocked his older brother's hand off of his shoulder with an overly venomous effort. But of course Conrart's mostly serious face greeted him, almost like it was set in stone. Never a real smile, never a real distressed look when it came to these little fights. Only an exhausted smile, a rather fake smile at that.

"It's late and we'd all like some sleep. Those fires you lit earlier were rather wearing to put out you know Wolfram."

The blonde crossed his arms over his chest and sniffed loudly as he was scolded. "I was going to bed before I was confronted rather rudely. Excuse me Lord Weller." He walked hurriedly past his half human brother and the small crowd of people as he made his way back to his old bedroom. Quite rambunctiously he slammed the wooden door and fell on his bed. The second rush of numbness had begun to wear off and he lay in bed with his eyes drooping from all the energy that he had mustered that day. He lifted his gnarled finger to his neck and it took some painful effort to loosen his cravat. But sleep quickly found him before he could truly get comfortable.

"_Tomorrow will be better_." He thought as darkness found him and the peacefulness of his dreams surrounded him like a warm blanket.

As you can tell this will be a Wolfram centered Fanfiction that will span for many a chapter. Many…. Many….. chapters. Sorry for it being short, I spent a long time on it, because I haven't written in years. But we will see where this fanfiction goes. It'll be fun. Next chapter will be from Yuuri's third person limited view.

~Hazel.


End file.
